Hello everyone,
I'm a 42-year old male who's battled weight issues my entire life. I was always an athlete - collegiate football player and shotputter. I've lifted weights since I was a teenager. At my heaviest I was 385lbs. I managed to get it down to about 340-ish over time but my weight more or less just stayed there for years. Without getting into a long, drawn-out story here are my questions and concerns.
I had gastric bypass Jan 15 of 2018. I have lost weight, but really not that much. I'm hungry ALL THE TIME. I can eat way more than I feel like I should be able to. I lost weight for the first four months or so but since then I've been gaining and losing the same 5-10lbs for about a year. Part of me feels like I'm gaining/maintaining weight because of muscle gains due to heavy exercise but not losing any more fat because I simply cannot get through my day with a 900-1200 calorie diet. I just don't see how it's possible to do this. To show my trends, here they are:
1/1/18 - 334
1/15/18 - 319 - Surgery
1/22/18 - 308
2/5/18 - 293
3/12/18 - 276
3/26/18 - 271
5/28/18 - 260
7/23/18 - 252
8/13/18 - 260
11/1/18 - 265
12/1/18 - 262
1/1/19 - 267
2/3/19 - 264
3/3/19 - 262
4/3/19 - 260
My questions are:
1) Do I need to eat 900-1200 calories for the rest of my life to prevent gaining all my weight back no matter what I do? (I've asked this question to my doctor and the staff of where I got my surgery and received conflicting information from various people who are paid alot of money to know).
1a) I work out constantly. If I continue to work out and just eat sensibly, can I operate just like a normal person with an active lifestyle? It's a pretty depressing thought that I need to eat that little forever even if I'm extremely active and athletic.
2) I've been told and read that after 12-18 months, you're done losing weight. At least, the surgery only helps for this long. Is it possible to actually use my surgery 2 years+ out to lose weight, or is it just "eat 900 calories a day and do alot of cardio forever and you won't regain your weight"?
3) Are you as hungry as I am? Is this normal? If this is true hunger and not head hunger then I have made a poor decision getting this surgery. I tried the "drink some water every time you feel hunger" trick and... no dice. Still hungry!
I realize some people who read this may think "he knew what he was signing up for", and they'd be right to think that. Maybe I just had unrealistic expectations after reading about and seeing people who lose like 200lbs and look like they haven't exercised a day in their life. I exercise and try my best to eat the small amounts I'm supposed to. I don't drink soda and barely drink alcohol, I don't eat poorly (often). I mean I am human. I do enjoy myself from time to time but I am far from what you would consider "non-compliant".
Thanks for letting me vent and any constructive answers are welcome. I have tried very hard to find solid answers to my questions and I feel like it's impossible IE: "Yes, even if you lift weights and run five days a week, since you've had had gastric bypass you must eat 1,200 calories a day for the rest of your life or you will gain your weight back, sorry"